Beckett's Birth Story Part 1

There are two versions of Beckett's birth story. I'll start with the short one, and continue with the long version. God sure has a much bigger plan for babies than you ever can imagine.   Short version: After 29 hours of labor, I had an unplanned C-Section because my contractions were causing baby's heart rate to drop. We had the dr's tell us we could have the C-Section now or wait an hour to see if anything changed, which wasn't happening with anything they were doing, but i'd need a C-Section regardless. So off to the OR we went and I delivered a healthy baby boy.    Long version: We checked into the hospital on Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 7:30pm. It was a crisp cool night in Palo Alto, which was helpful, because I was a hot, sweaty, anxious mess. We got checked in, and I got settled in our room. We met our night nurse, and I got my IV.. (Side note, I hate needles, espeically ones that have to stay in your body for longer than 2 seconds, and I had to get 2 IVs because the first one didn't work right. le sigh) Colby, my mom and my grandmother went to dinner, while I stayed and relaxed a little before bedtime.

 

 

 

I got a little sleep that night, minus everyone coming in to check my vitals every. single. hour. My contractions were bad, but livable. Woke up on Friday and got to eat some bland steel cut oats for breakfast which sucked, but it was food. I started to have some stronger contractions, but nothing to write home about. I was getting pumped with all sorts of fluids, so getting up to go to the bathroom while attached to an IV was fun. I've never needed so much help just to pee!   I sent Colby, my mom and grandmother to lunch knowing that they needed their energy as much as I did, so I tried to take a nap through some pretty strong contractions. Bad idea. They were gone for no less than 30 minutes before I sent the SOS text to my husband and called the nurse in to get the anesthesiologist in for an epidural. The fun had officially started. 

back massage train! haha

 

 

 Before they got back, I called my nurse back in.. "I think im going to vomit, come quick". There is nothing worse then throwing up. It passed, thankfully. When everyone got back, so did the nauseous feeling. "Im going to throw up" Yup. Up came the steel cut oats I got to eat for breakfast. It was awful. Nothing like being in the hospital in labor and vomiting. No fun.   We had the cutest anesthesiologist (she resembled my cousin Clementina) and she got to work right away. For such an intricate procedure, she talked me through the whole thing and was so light handed. It didn't hurt at all. The original epidural didn't work right away, so she had to adjust it.. then bliss. Now, epidurals DO NOT take the pain away completely.. but they make your contractions shorter and WAY less painful. Also, side note.. NO ONE tells you you also get a catheter with your epidural. I guess you are just supposed to assume that since you can't walk, you can't pee, so you get a catheter? lol That was definitely news to me! haha   I was progressing nicely, but slowly. My uncle came up to the hospital for a bit to visit before taking my mom and grandmother out for dinner. They returned, and the dr's came in to check on me. They broke my water (that was a wierd feeling) and said it would take a few more hours, so my mom and grandmother could go home and get some sleep, but to keep their phones handy. They left. The dr's stayed and were monitoring the baby. Then all hell broke loose.   Within the next 10 mins we went from waiting through the night to attaching a monitor to the baby's head to track his heart rate to pulling it out and having to make a decision to have a c-section to keep the baby safe and not stress him out. I had both attending dr's come in and tell me to get on my knees- to try and get the baby's heartrate to come up. Didn't work. Back on my back.. didn't work. Back on my knees. Kind of working but not really. Panic set in, and all of a sudden there are at least 6 nurses/ doctors in my room with me and Colby and telling us that the baby's heart rate was dropping with each contraction, and that he needed to come out asap. They told us we could do it now, or wait an hour and see if he got less stressed but that a C-section was going to be the way I delivered regardless if I waited or not.    True to my gut reaction (I had no birth plan- just to deliver him safely by any means) I said its go time. We barely caught my mom and grandmother before they got too far and all of a sudden Colby is in scrubs. All of a sudden this was happening, very quickly, and it felt like an eternity. I didn't even hesitate to tell them to get him delivered, which is not like me- major surgery on top of a newborn? Didn't even cross my mind!   I briefly saw my mom and grandmother in the hallway as they rolled me (on my hands and knees because that was keeping baby boy stable.. yeah, try standing on your hands and knees on a moving hospital bed while you have an epidural and your legs don't work. Thank God I had been going to yoga!) to the operating room. 

yes, embarrassing, but this is too funny not to post. this is how i was wheeled into the OR. not even kidding.

There was what seemed like 100 people in the operating room and one of the dr's was reading me my paperwork so they could perform the C-Section while everyone else was prepping me. Since I already had an epidural, they just made sure that I couldn't feel anything.. they basically poke you with a dull needle until you can't feel anything 'sharp'.   It seemed like it took about 30 minutes to prep me for the procedure, but there is no telling how long it actually took. it just felt like a lot of pressure and tugging. Colby was the most wonderful partner. He was by my side the entire time. He kept telling me how proud he was of me and how wonderful I was doing. He never let go of my hand. One of the anesthesiologists held my other hand at my request and walked us through what they were doing as it was happening, which was great since you can't see a damn thing lol. You just feel all this awkward tugging and pressure. You really can't describe it.   Then it happened, the best noise in the world. He was here. Beckett arrived at 12:02am on February 8, 2014. We all teared up as soon as we heard his voice. The dr's held him up over the blue sheet and I got a glimpse of his hand before they took him away to clean him up.   Colby got to see him first and he came over to me to tell me he was perfect and that he had curly hair (that is still up for debate!). It took a couple minutes before they brought Beckett over to me so I could meet him. Its a moment i'll never forget. All this while my guts were literally opened up on the other side of the blue sheet! It was all just very surreal.

 

 

Our first family photo!

 Colby got to go with Beckett to meet my Mom and grandmother. Colby said my Mom was a mess- the birth of her first grandson while her first child was on an operating table was a lot to handle! (Apparently she made quite a few laps around the waiting room!) My grandmother was all smiles. I stayed (obviously) in the OR while they stiched me back together. I had such bad shivers that they had to hold me down. Im guessing the mix of drugs, anticipation, and adrenaline was a lot on my body and I couldn't control anything. 

The wheeled me into recovery where everyone was waiting for me, including my son (!). We got to do skin to skin for a while we got to know each other. He latched on almost immediately and got to eat a little. We took some photos before getting released to the maternity wing. Mom and momadear went home, and we went to be a family for the night. Colby was so excited that before we even made it to our room, he pulled out my 'push' present. It was definitely appreciated!

 

 

 

 

 The first night was crazy. I barely remember anything since it was so late. Beckett slept really well considering all he had been through. I slept a little too. My blood pressure was a little wack, so I was put on magnesium for 24 hours. Holy hell that stuff makes you itch! I had air compression leg wraps on since I couldn't get up to walk because of the surgery/ epidural. Those were hot and itchy too, but I understand why I needed them!   

 

 Colby got to change the first of all his diapers since I couldn't get up to do them. He did such a great job taking care of all Beckett's changes. He is already such an amazing dad. I couldn't be more in love with him then I am now. He's been so wonderful!

  Day 2 and the rest of our hospital stay adventures up next!